Spike in Denver's auto-pedestrian cases has officials seeking answers

This year's spike in auto-pedestrian collisions is deadly serious, Denver police say, regardless of whether it's a statistical anomaly or an early sign of a long-term problem.

Denver's auto-pedestrian accidents were up 46 percent for the first eight weeks of 2013 over the previous two years. Another grim statistic also stands out: Last year, the city had 13 hit-and-run fatalities, more than the previous three years combined.

"It's not just a police problem; it's a city problem," said Lt. Matt Murray, chief of staff to Denver Police Chief Robert White. "And the city has to work on a solution."

Murray said the city is working on a public education campaign, "but we're getting to a point where we're going to have to take action on enforcement."

Mohammad Bahramisharif and his wife Parvin Zamanian were overcome with emotion as they looked for the first time at a sign dedicated to their son Masoud Bahramisharif, who was killed in a car accident at the corner of University and Evans last year. The sign was dedicated in a ceremony Friday afternoon, March 29, 2013. The University of Denver student was killed by a hit-and-run driver at the intersection May 31, 2012. (Karl Gehring, The Denver Post)

When drugs and alcohol aren't involved, collisions are often caused by distractions — signs, people, bright sunshine — and the
popularity of smartphones doesn't help, several experts said.

"We have more distracted walkers and drivers checking their text messages and e-mails, and people are just not paying attention," said Lt. Robert Rock, Denver's head traffic investigator.

The consequences can be tragic, as they were on Feb. 27, when two East High students were struck outside the school within minutes of each other. In one case a student walked into traffic. In the other, a hit-and-run driver blew through a red light.

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After two years of averaging about 31 auto-pedestrian incidents a month, the average jumped to 44 a month in January and February, according to Denver police statistics.

Hit-and-run cases averaged 8.5 a month in January and February — after 4.8 per month in 2011 and 6.1 in 2012.

Collisions in Aurora, however, are down this year, with that city's rate per capita running less than one-third Denver's.

Regardless of statistical spikes and dips, regional authorities consider the clash of cars and people a serious problem.

Over the past decade, about 1,600 accidents involving pedestrians or cyclists were reported every year, according to a study by the Denver Regional Council of Governments.

In the 10-county region, 17 percent of all fatalities were pedestrians, and 3 percent were cyclists.

Engineering is expensive. Intersections prone to collisions already have lights and crosswalks, he said, and walkover bridges cost about $1 million apiece. And before Feb. 27, East High hadn't had any problems with cars hitting people, police said at the time.

Education is effective with children, but adults tune it out, Rock said.

"You can watch a kindergarten student always walk to the corner and wait for the light," he said. "And you can watch adults cut across at mid-block all day long."

That leaves enforcement. Rock said writing a lot of jaywalking tickets sounds like a solution, but it's not practical with hundreds of thousands of residents, workers, students and tourists spread across Denver each weekday, with a limited number of officers to respond to all kinds of calls.

Last year, Denver police started the Medina Alert, an instant-notification system to get information to the media about hit-and-run suspects. Police say media saturation prompted alleged hit-and-run driver Erin Jackson to turn herself in the day after the collision near East High.

The law was named for Jose Medina, the valet killed on Lincoln Street by a hit-and-run driver in 2011.

Also, last June , the state legislature doubled the jail sentence for drivers who hit and run. They now face up to six years in jail, the same as a drunken driver in an auto-pedestrian crash.

Denver District Attorney Mitch Morrissey said the law hasn't come into play since it went into effect last summer. His office has tried 16 cases of vehicular assault, but in each case, the driver stayed at the scene.

He doesn't know whether tougher laws stop people from driving away after an accident. The laws, however, do hold those who do run accountable for that decision.

"It's hard to say what drives someone to make the decision to run, but there has to be suitable punishment for it," Morrissey said.

The tougher law was inspired by Timothy Albo, who was hit near Coors Field in 2010 by Brandon Mondragon, who fled. Mondragon eventually was sentenced to four years probation, six months in a work-release jail program and 300 hours of community service for two anti-drunken-driving organizations.

Albo continues to suffer from brain damage and can't return to work or retain what he reads or tries to learn, said his older sister, Jennifer Albo.

"It's unfathomable what people do behind the wheel every day — they eat, they text, they talk on the phone, they hand sodas to the back seat.

"Every time they're not paying attention they're taking the opportunity to ruin someone's life. We are blessed to still have my brother. He's alive, and he's breathing, but (Mondragon) killed who he was before."

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